The 12 Dogs of Christmas

MPAA Rating: G

IMDB Rating: 5.5 / 10

Release Date:

Length:

Tags: family

Director: Kieth Merrill

Writers:

Steven Paul Leiva

Steven Paul Leiva

and 2 more credits

Cast:

Emma O'Conner

(Jordan-Claire Green)

Douglas O'Conner

(Tom Kemp)

Cathy Stevens

(Susan Wood)

Mike Stevens

(Adam Hicks)

Melvin

(Jim Jackman)

Mayor Nobel Doyle

(Richard Riehle)

Clerk-Sherriff

(Roland Pelletier)

Dogcatcher Doyle

(John Billingsley)

Woman in Furs

(Cathy Worthington)

Aunt Delores

(Bonita Friedericy)

Mabel

(Dorothy Brodesser)

Old Jake Charles

(Michael Howard)

Mrs. Walsh

(Mindy Sterling)

Mrs. Clancy

(Kapri Merrill)

Coach Cullimore

(Eric Lutes)

Editor Review

The 12 Dogs of Christmas is the perfect watch this Christmas if there happens to be a little puppy under the Christmas tree this year. Designed for those who are crazy about man's best friend, it is a simple example of how a bit of snow and a sweet little girl can bring just about any story to screen.

Basically, this is 101 Dalmatians set at Christmas time. You can expect the same villainous characters, who are eager to downsize the pooch levels in the city. This time, however, we are in Doverville in Maine, and this is 1931.

Emma O'Conner is a dog-lover who is dismayed when a new ruling comes into Doverville. The new Mayor Doyle decides to ban any dogs from the town. At Christmas time, Emma must fight against all odds - including the newly hired Dogcatcher Doyle - and teach the town to accept the canines into their lives and homes. She calls a pup Miracle, wears Irish flat caps and smiles a lot and is generally the saving grace of what can be a harsh environment.

The laughs are light and as you could guess there's a heavy reliance on the puppies for cuteness and the necessary oohing and aahing. And why to the cats get the brunt of it? Surely the felines have done nothing wrong and don't deserve to be lumped in with the baddies.

It's a fluff piece that's easy to digest and not going to ruffle any feathers, but it can be tedious in its predictability and some of the outlandish abilities of our young protagonist can be cringe worthy, such as knocking over burly adults and riding around in sidecars. But for the young and the young at heart, The 12 Dogs of Christmas is an inoffensive way to spend a couple of hours.

Fun Fact:
The 12 Dogs of Christmas was filmed in Maine in the summer months, and so to portray Christmas most of the snow had to be trucked in from the local ski resort and entire yards had snow shovelled onto them for filming.